Just Fall In Love Again
by pixierock88
Summary: A fan fiction set in the future when Joan and Adam are 22. They haven't seen each other since high school graduation. Rated T for future parts of the story. Mild language beyond that.
1. Chapter 1

Just Fall In Love Again: A Joan and Adam Fan Fiction

Started 9/6/05 Written by Kimberly Granlund

Chapter 1

It was a nippy fall afternoon in September in New York City as 22-year-old Joan Girardi walked down the streets of the Urban/Artsy part of NYC.

"Since when is the 2nd day of September so freaking cold?" Joan asked, pulling her brown corduroy jacket closer around herself.

"I dunno." Her roommate Anna Rollins replied, playing with the buttons on her pink suede jacket.

Joan glanced over and rolled her eyes at her friend.

She glanced in the window of the building they were passing.

"Wait." She said.

Anna stopped and looked in the window, then back at Joan. "What?"

Joan read the wording on the window slowly again, letting it set in.

It read "Silhouette - a collection of Art created by new-comer, Adam Rove".  
"Um, I'm going to go inside for a sec and look around."  
"Why?"  
"The artist is someone I use to know. "

Joan opened the door and went inside.

She stood in front of the sculpture closest to the door and smiled.

The style was still so Adam.

Adam Rove scanned over the people inside the gallery looking at his work.  
Fresh out of Berkley the previous May, he had heard that a gallery company in New York City was looking for a fresh new artist's work to display and Adam had jumped at the offer.

He looked up again and stopped on the tall, thin brunette and the medium height brunette by the door.

She had a little bit below her shoulders red highlighted brown hair pulled back with a jaw clip. She was wearing brown boots, jeans, a long sleeved red shirt and a multi-colored scarf.

It couldn't possibly be Jane. Or could it be?

If it was, she'd changed a bit, but it still was Joan.  
Her friend said something to make her laugh and he smiled.  
He had always loved her laugh.

Joan walked over to the wall and looked at some of the paintings.

"That looks like you."  
"That is me. I can't believe he kept it all these years."  
The painting was of her from their sophomore year in high school.  
She was sitting against a wall holding Grace's poem "Sewer Walking".  
She had found the poem and tried to submit it to the yearbook, but she couldn't find out who had written it and Adam had told her it was Grace's.

Grace wouldn't let her submit it, so she had made a whole bunch of copies of it on colored paper and Adam had helped her throw them off the roof.  
He had been sketching her when she'd come up to the roof.  
He must have painted it after that.

"Joanie."

Joan looked over at Anna. She shook her head. "Sorry."  
"You got kind of spacey."  
"Yeah." Joan said smiling.  
"So who's this Adam Rove guy?"

"He was my ex-boyfriend in high school."  
"Oh, okay him."

Joan nodded and turned to look at more of the artwork by the door.  
She looked up and froze in her step.  
It was Adam. And he was looking right at her.

He still looked the same. His hair was still brown and wavy, his eyes were still brown.  
Wearing a blue button-down shirt and jeans, he hadn't changed at all.  
Now, he was walking towards her.

Anna looked up at him and then at Joan.  
"I'll go and let you talk."  
"What? Why?" Joan asked.  
"It's okay. Art creeps me out in long periods anyways, it's okay. I'll meet you at home later."   
"Okay."  
"Okay. Go get him." Anna said squeezing her hand.  
Joan smiled and watched her go out the door.

"Jane?" She heard that familiar voice ask.  
Turning around, she looked up at him. "Adam."  
"It's you." "Yeah, it's me."  
"Is it weird that I want to hug you?"  
Joan shook her head. "No."  
Adam nodded and reached forward to hug her.  
Joan rested her head on his shoulder and breathed him in. He still smelled great.  
Adam pulled away after a moment and looked at her.  
"What?" Joan asked.  
"Nothing. It's just, you still look so much the same."  
"Yeah? So do you."

Adam smiled. "Do you want some coffee?"  
"Is it black?"  
"Yeah."  
"As long as I can drown it with sugar, sure."  
Adam smiled. "So." Adam said, as they sat down with their coffee.  
"What?"  
"What happened to us?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"I mean we haven't talked since the summer before college started." Adam said.  
"A phone call was forgotten or something and we just never remembered to return it? I don't know really."  
"I've missed you. As a friend."  
"Me too."

"Was there someone in college?" Adam asked after a long pause of silence.  
"1. He was a sport reporter or the CBS news. Whatever that channel is."  
"There was 1 for me too. She was a fashion designer."  
"Did you love her?"  
"No. I cared about her a lot thought." Adam said.  
"I felt the same way."

"What did you do after graduation?"  
"Seeing how I seriously brought my grades up that last year, I was able to go to the college I wanted. I went to NYC. Where did you go?"  
'I went to Berkley."  
"Wow. Really?" Joan asked.  
"Yeah. What did you do in college?"  
"I had to take an English class and I took it you know and everything and it was okay. I then started taking writing classes and I loved it. And I knew that's what I wanted to do. I loved theatre classes too. I was in quite a few plays too. I took several computer classes and found I really liked them. I took some music classes and I loved them as well. I took some art classes too. Mostly pottery and photography. Photography was incredible and I loved it! How about you?"  
"I was an art major and I took everything art pretty much. I took digital arts too, which I really liked. And I now love guitar as well. Where do you work now?" Adam asked, taking a drink of his coffee.  
"I'm a journalist writer for Seventeen magazine."  
"Wow. That's awesome Jane. How?"  
"I was originally an intern and they loved my work so much that they offered me a job as a urban reporter. Then like 6 months after that, they bumped me up to a part time journalist. Then about 6 months after that, they bumped me up to a permanent journalist. It took me about 2 years, but it was worth it. I've been doing this now for 2 years and I love it. My friend Tara works there as a fulltime journalist as well, so it's fun." Joan said, taking a drink of her coffee.  
"What kind of writing do you do?"  
"Whatever they need me to. Most of the time it's a fairly major article. Sometimes even a cover shoot. A lot of the time, I get to interview celebrities."  
"What's that like?" Adam asked.  
"Incredible. About 85 or so of them are really nice people."

"Was that Tara who came in with you?"  
"No. Tara's tall and blonde. She's a chatterbox too. She's so sweet though. I adore her so much. She's one of my roommates. Anna was who came in with me. She's more laidback." Joan replied.  
"How many roommates do you have?"  
"3. Anna, Becca and Tara. I've lived in a townhouse with them since I started at NYC. Their boyfriends live in another townhouse. My friends Zoe and Caitlyn live in another townhouse. They have one other roommate, but I don't know her at all. Their boyfriends live in another townhouse. We all live within 2 subway stops of each other, so it's great."  
"How many friends do you have?"  
"10. Anna, Becca, Tara, Zoe, Caitlyn, Matt, Jason, Chris, Aldin and Nathan." Joan replied.  
"Cool."

'Yeah." Joan said, taking a sip of coffee. "So, you haven't really gotten a chance to talk."  
"Yeah, it's okay though. I'm enjoying hearing about you."  
Joan smiled.  
"There's not really anything that different with me. I now live in San Francisco. Grace and Luke live in the San Diego area. They live in La Jolla so Luke can work at Scripps Institute. Glynis and Friedman live in Monterey Bay because the Monterey Aquarium's up there, which is where they work. I see them often enough."

"Cool. How much longer do you have to hang out here?"  
"Well…" Adam paused to look at his watch. "It's 5:47, so 6. We opened at 9 this morning. I actually wasn't sure if anyone would come." Adam replied.  
"Why not?"  
"I don't know. But I'm glad everyone came. I even got several offers on my stuff today. But you know what the best part was?"  
Joan shook her head.  
"You coming. It meant a lot to me."  
Joan smiled. "Your welcome."

"How did you find out about my showing? Did one of our group tell you?"  
"No. Anna and I were hanging out and stuff. We were in this area because first of all, it's an awesome area of New York City and secondly one of the best coffee places ever is a couple blocks from here. We were just walking down the street and I was complaining that it was cold and I saw the writing on the window and we came in."  
"And Anna left because?" Adam asked, smiling.  
"She wanted us to be able to talk alone and also because art creeps her out in long periods."  
"Why?"  
"I think this is what it is and she swears this is why. Her mom's a huge art person and she use to drag Anna to every single art show, museum and whatever else." Joan commented.  
Adam laughed, which made Joan laugh.  
They looked at each other for a minute and Joan sighed.  
"She swears she has nightmares about art forcing her to look at them." Joan said trying to sound serious.  
"Really?"  
Joan nodded laughing.

"Adam? You can go back to your hotel now. I'll close up."  
"Oh okay." Adam replied.  
"Who's this?"  
"Oh! Sorry. Leslie, this is my friend Joan Girardi. Joan, this is my agent Leslie Scott. She books my gallery showings and stuff."  
Joan stuck out her hand. "Nice to meet you."  
"Nice to meet you as well. She's your muse, isn't she?"  
Adam nodded.  
"Excuse me?"  
"Don't you see it Ms. Girardi? Your in over half his stuff."  
Joan smiled.  
"I'll see you tomorrow Adam. It was nice to meet you Joan Girardi."  
Joan smiled. "Nice to meet you too."  
Leslie nodded.

Adam grabbed his coat and fallowed Joan outside.  
"She's um…"  
"Yeah. But she's good at the business part yo."  
"I've missed hearing yo." Joan said.  
"Me too. Do you want to get some dinner?"  
"Yeah. But, Adam this can't be anything else then 2 friends having dinner."  
"Why?"  
"You know why." Joan said, looking at him.  
"Okay. If that's what you want."  
"It is."  
Adam nodded.

They walked down the sidewalk for a couple blocks till the got to Maglino's Italian restaurant.

"Won't there be a huge crowd inside?" Adam asked as Joan opened the front door.  
"Yeah, but I have my connections."  
"You have connections?"  
"You'll see."

"Hi Steven."  
"Oh! Joan! Hi, how are you?" The host said upon seeing her.  
"Good." Joan said.  
"Good. Table for 11?"

"No. Just 2."

"The gang's not here?"  
"Nope."  
"Well, tell them I said hi."  
"Sure thing."  
"Okay then. Right this way."

"Told you." Joan said smugly looking at Adam as they fallowed Steven to a small booth.  
"So how did you find this place?" Adam asked as he opened his menu.  
"Tara, Zoe, Becca, Anna and I just stumbled across it and tried it. We loved it so much that we brought Caitlyn and the guys here and they loved it too. So, now we come here pretty often. That's why Steven asked why there weren't 11 of us. All their stuff is homemade by the way. The Lasagna and Spaghetti's so good. Their pizza's very oh my god amazing."

"What kind of pizza?" Adam asked.  
"The special's really good. The jungle's spicy and different, the Mexican's really good. Big Texas is one of my favorites. Also the barbecue's awesome."  
"What's one it?"  
"Chicken, BBQ sauce, Onions. You know. Garlic and Cilantro." Joan replied.  
"So a medium?"  
"Sure."

"Hi, welcome to Maglino's. What can I start you off with Joan and co?" The waiter said, placing a basket of garlic bread on the table.  
"Skip the beginning. We're going all the way."  
"Okay. What would you like?"

"A medium barbecue."  
The waiter finished taking their order and went to get their drinks.  
"So, does everyone here know you?" Adam asked, reaching for a slice of bread.

"Pretty much." Joan replied, grinning.

"So tell me about these friends of yours."  
"What? Like their personality? Look? What?" Joan asked, curiously.  
"All of it I guess."  
"Really?"  
"Unchallenged."  
Joan smiled at him.

"Okay. Anna's like 5'6". Her birthday's July 16th. Her brown hair's above shoulder length and it's a blunt-type cut. She was a theatre major and it's because of theatre that I met her. She's kind of quiet and she's sort of artsy. When she's around her friends, she's so out-going and stuff. She works at the restaurant "Galleria on the waterfront"." Joan said.  
"Okay, cool."

"Tara's 5'7". Her b-day's May 12th. She has straight long blonde hair. She's a music major. She's a journalist at Seventeen magazine. She talks too much and loves laughing." Joan said and Adam smiled.

"Becca's 5'4". Her b-day's April 17th. She has about my length blonde hair that always has at least one random braid in it. She was a business major. She's a flirt, out-going and quirky. She works at the TRL studios. She loves dancing and she loves going out at night. She's a bit wild at times. She's so sweet though and she's a lot of fun to be around." Joan said, taking a bite of her bread.

"Those are your three roommates right?"  
"Yeah. Do you want to go by townhouse?" Joan asked.  
Adam shrugged. "Sure."

"Okay. Um, Matt's a little bit taller then you. He's involved with Anna. His birthday's February 22nd. He has blonde hair that's sort of spiky. He's a music major and he works at Columbia Records as a mixer. He has a drum set in his room, which is great to bang on when you're in a bad mood. He's out-going and constantly trying to make you laugh." Joan said, smiling at him and Adam smiled back at her.

"Um, Jason's about your height and he has sandy blonde hair. He's dating Becca. His b-day's August 2nd. He's an Economics major. He works for CNN. He's a lot like Becca and he likes partying like she does." She paused as their drinks and more bread came.  
"Thanks." Adam said.

"Let's see. Chris is about 6' and he has brown hair. He's dating Tara. His birthday's September 1st, so we celebrated his birthday yesterday. He's an art major and he's a cartoonist. He's a big sports fan, a dork and he loves making people happy." Joan said.  
"They sound great."

"Yeah, they are." Joan said smiling.  
"Okay, continue."  
"Okay. Zoe is 5'7". She has wavy about my length dark brown hair and she has blue eyes. She has this whole Ashlee Simpson thing going on. She's stunning and I'm not quite sure she completely gets that. She's an art major and she does photography professionally. Her whole family is made up of artists. She's quiet, Shy and has this gorgeous smile. Zoe's one of those people you're friends with the minute you meet her. She's just like that. She's so sweet and she's a really good friend. Her birthday's March 19th." Joan said, continuing.

"She sounds amazing."

"She is. Caitlyn's 5'8" and has reddish brown long wavy hair. Her birthday's October 17th. She's the youngest of us all. She's a dance major and she's a dance teacher that's pretty well known at the American school of ballet. She's been dancing since she was little. She's loud at times and can't sit still for long. Dancing and drawing are two of her favorite things. She's a humanitarian and a vegan and doesn't like people causing bad ripples in life. She's big into politics and she writes a lot too." Joan said.  
"Cool."  
Joan nodded.

"Aldin's your height and he has light brown hair. He's dating Zoe and he's totally in love with her and all about her. His b-day's June 19th. He's a multimedia major and he's a sports writer for the New York Times. He's talkative and a bit of a dork. He's a computer geek and he can tell you what every little part in a computer does. Anything that has to do with computers, he knows about it." Joan said.  
"He sounds cool." Adam commented.

"Yeah, he is. Nathan's 5'10" and has medium brown hair. He's dating Caitlyn. His b-day's April 30th. He's a physics major and he writes the dialogue to a lot of ads that are on TV. He plays the guitar and drums and he's also a big fan of bass guitars. He's out-going and talks about music a lot." Joan said, finishing.  
"They all sound awesome Jane."  
"Yeah, they are all amazing." Joan said taking a bite of her pizza.

"Thanks for dinner. You should have let me pay for half of it." Joan said as they walked back to Joan's place.  
"No. It's the very least I could do for you giving me such an enjoyable day."  
"Well, this is my place. I had a lot of fun Adam."  
"Yeah, yeah me too. Can I get your new cell phone number by the way?" Adam asked.  
"Yeah sure."  
Adam handed her his phone and Joan handed him hers.  
"Thanks." Adam said after they had given each other back their phones.

"Hey, do you want to come in? At the very least you could meet my roomies." Joan said.  
"Okay."  
Joan opened the door and Adam fallowed her.  
"Oh whoa!" Joan said upon seeing the living room.  
All 10 of them were there in the living room.  
"Hey Joanie." Anna said.  
"Hey. Um everyone this is my friend Adam. Adam from the left: Caitlyn and Nathan, Zoe and Aldin, Becca and Jason, Chris and Tara, Anna and Matt."  
"Hi Adam!" They all said at once.  
"Uh… hi." Adam said looking over at Joan and smiling.

"Here. You want?" Joan asked handing Anna the pizza box.  
"Oh! Yes! Gimme!" Anna said happily.  
Joan laughed handing Anna the box.  
Anna stood up and walked to the fridge.

"Hey Jane, sorry. But I'm gonna go ahead home. Early morning. Can I call you tomorrow?" Adam asked.  
"Yeah. I'll walk you out."  
"You know how I am about crowds of people." Adam said outside.  
Joan smiled.

"I wish you weren't going." Joan said, looking at him.  
"Yeah me too. But, I think I should."  
"Okay. I had a great time tonight."   
"Yeah me too." Adam said.  
Joan smiled again.  
She leaned into hug him.  
As Adam pulled away, he kissed her cheek.  
"Good night Jane."  
"Good night."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Having watched "Napoleon Dynamite" with her friends till 12 am the previous night,

Joan had forgotten to set her alarm clock, which was why she was late to work the next morning.

In her rush, she had stubbed her toes twice and that razor burn on her leg wasn't feeling all that great right now either.

"You shouldn't be late for work Joan." She **SO** did not have time for this. Turning around, she saw it was Cute Boy God. Joan sighed, loudly. "What do you want?"

"First of all, not to be late to work. Secondly, I want you to let Adam back in." "I am."  
'You know how I mean."

"I'm not ready." Joan replied.

It still hurt to remember what had happened that April day so long ago.

It had been their junior year of high school and they were about to celebrate their 1-year anniversary.  
She had been in a mock trial about Jack and the bean stock and Adam had been Jack.

Joan had found out later in the day of the trial, that Adam had been cheating on her.

She had taken it out on him in the trial, making everyone else think she was going at Jack.

After the trial, he had told her everything.

She had broken up with him before she'd left the classroom.

"I can't yet." Joan said softly.

"You have to because you still love him. Don't look at me like that Joan. We both know you still do and so does Adam."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Call him."  
"That's it?"  
CBG shrugged and said, "You took sociology and physiology. You should be able to figure out what people mean."  
"Yeah well, you made me take those classes!" Joan shot back.  
"And you didn't enjoy them?"  
"Okay, that's not fair." Joan protested.

CBG was giving her one of his "looks".

"Fine. Yes. I enjoyed them."

"Good. Now call him."  
"And say what?"  
God didn't answer.

He just turned around and gave her his backward wave that bugged her so much.

Joan fished around in her bag for her cell phone. Finding it, she pulled it out and looked at it and she dialed a number, but not Adam's.

On the west coast, Grace Polk was sitting at the computer, brainstorming.  
She grumbled when her cell phone started to play "Celebrate" by Kool and the Gang.  
She was nowhere near awake enough to talk to whoever was calling her.  
She grabbed for it and looked at the caller I.D.  
"De-de-de... The number you have dialed in not in service. Please click your number, and try again." Grace said, into the phone's speaker sounding just like the out of service phone person.

"That is so old." Joan said.  
"Yeah, well. It's early and I'm cranky so tough st."  
"You are cranky."  
"Yeah, well.. What's up Girardi?"  
"I need to talk to you."  
Grace glanced at the computer's clock.  
"God, it is too early for this." She grumbled under her breath.  
"Did you know Adam's in New York?" Joan asked.  
"No. Since when?"  
"I don't know what day he got here, but I saw him yesterday. Anna and I saw him yesterday at his gallery showing."  
"I haven't talked to him for a while, so I didn't know. What happened with you and Rove?"

"Nothing. We talked and had dinner. He walked me home and got to meet the 10 of them."  
"Cool." Grace said.  
"Yeah. I'm in over half his stuff. Did you know that?"  
"Vaguely, I think."  
Joan heard a beeping noise in her ear.

She looked at the screen and saw "GOD" as calling waiting.  
"Sorry Grace, but I've got to go. I'll call you later."  
"Okay. Tell Rove I said hi."  
Joan agreed and pressed send.  
"Yes?"  
"Your not calling Adam."  
"I wanted to talk to Grace."  
"Call Adam."  
"Fine." Joan said, as the line went dead.  
She looked up Adam's number and she shook her head.  
Couldn't for once God some what tell her what to do? No, no. She knew he'd never do that. He always had been and always would be unclear of what he really wanted from her. And sometimes, it really pissed her off.

She could hear it ringing as she bit at the skin on her thumb.

"Hello?" Adam said answered as he always had, slightly spacey.

"Hi." She replied, crossing her fingers that he would still know her voice on the phone

after all this time.  
"Jane, hi. What's up?"  
She let out a breath, relieved that he did remember.

"Not too much, what are you up to?" Joan asked.  
"Nothing really. I have to go back to San Francisco to get some more of my art. It's going pretty fast."  
"Wait. You're leaving?"  
"I'll be back in a couple days." Adam replied.

"When?"  
"Tomorrow. Unless people stop buying my stuff, I'll have to go home and grab more stuff every week."  
"Wow, okay. Do you still have "Sewer Walking" by the way?"  
She could tell Adam was smiling.  
"Good, you saw it. It's not for sale and it never was. I just wanted to put it up, because it reminded me of you and even if you couldn't come, part of you would still be."

"Oh, Adam." Joan said, touched.

"What did you call about, by the way?"  
"Oh nothing really. I should let you go. Busy and all. I'm late for work as it is."

"Oh okay. Do you want me to call later?" Adam asked.

Joan shrugged. "Sure."  
"Okay." Adam said, agreeing.

They said good-bye and Joan put her phone back in her bag.

"Hi Joan."  
Joan looked around and saw that it was Old Lady God.  
"Was that all you wanted?"

"I wanted you to find some things out and you did. That's all I asked for."  
"That was way too simple. Even for you. What else is there?" Joan asked.  
"Nothing. Just expect to bump into some one that you haven't seen in a long time."  
"Who?" Joan asked, curious now.

OLG didn't reply.

Like always, she just turned around and walked in the other direction, waving.

"Why Joan do you still ask questions? Why?" Joan muttered to herself.

Joan went up in the elevator to the 22nd floor.

She walked back to her office and set her stuff down.

She headed towards the coffee room.

Having gotten herself a Cinnabon cinnamon roll and a double mocha coffee, she went back to her office and sat down.

Joan had barely taken her first bite of her cinnamon roll, when a tall blonde woman appeared in her office doorway.

"I've already gabbed with Anna about it, but I want it straight from you. What happened with you and this Rove guy?"  
"Not right now Tara."  
"Why not?" Tara asked demandingly.

"I don't want to. I'm late as it is." Joan replied.  
"Don't do this to me. Come on. Tell me!"  
Joan put her cinnamon roll down.  
"Okay, fine. Will you leave me alone so I can get to work afterwards?"  
Yes." Tara replied, grinning.  
"Okay I guess. Come on in."  
Tara smiled as she pulled the door closed behind her.

About noon, there was a knock on her closed door.  
"Come on in." Joan said, not looking up from her computer.

The doorknob turned and the door opened.

"Hey Jane."  
Joan looked up at where the voice was coming from and smiled.

There stood Adam in jeans, a blue t-shirt and a gray hoodie.

She'd missed seeing him like this.

"Hi. What are you doing here?" Joan asked, as her smile grew bigger.

"I thought you might be interested in lunch." Adam replied.

"I would be. Where?"  
"Maybe where Anna works, Gallery on the water or whatever it is. I've heard great things about it and I'd like to try it."  
"Okay, sure. Let me save and then we can go."  
Adam nodded and they walked out of her office a minute later.

Joan saw Tara looking at her from her desk and Joan mouthed, "I can too be friends with him" at her and Tara just smiled back.

"So where from here?" Adam asked, once they were outside.  
"Um, this way. We'll ride the subway down."  
Adam nodded and fallowed Joan down the crowded street.

"This place looks awesome." Adam said, opening the door.  
"It is. Thank you." Joan said, going inside.

"Anna really works here?"  
"Yup. I think it's like 2 and a 1/2 years now." Joan replied.

"Cool." Adam said.

"Hi and welcome to.. Joanie!" Anna said excited to see her.

"Hi!" Joan said grinning at her.

Anna smiled. "Hey Adam."

Adam smiled back. "Hi."

"Just the 2 of you?" Anna asked, eyeing them.

"Uh huh." Joan replied.

"What do you feel like? Table or booth for you?" Anna asked.  
Adam looked at Joan. "Table?"

"Sure. Table Anna." Joan said looking back at Anna.  
"Okay." Anna said and she showed them to a table by the window.

"What's good?" Adam asked.

"Well, what do you feel like?" Anna asked.  
"I don't know." Adam replied.

Anna smiled. "What are you into? Seafood? Salad? Fish? Beef? Chicken? Burgers? Sandwiches?"  
"Well what's not too heavy?"  
"Sandwiches, Burgers or Salads."  
"What of each do you recommend?" Adam asked.

"The Salmon Ceaser salad's really good. The Galleria burger's good. It has a patty, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions, bacon and stuff on it. And sandwiches, um, the Turkey Melt's good. So is the Monte Cristo."  
"What's the Salmon?" Adam asked.

"Blackened." Anna replied.

"I'll have that I guess. Now, if I don't like it, I can blame you, right?" Adam asked.

Anna laughed and replied "Sure."

"Cool." Adam said grinning at her.

"You can tell Ashlie your decision. I'll just get your drinks." Anna said.

Joan and Adam ordered their drinks and Anna left a minute later.

"This place is awesome Jane." Adam said.

"You think so?" Joan asked.

"Unchallenged. So, what you thinking of?"

"A burger. Probably a peppercorn Ranch one with a salad." Joan replied and Adam nodded.

"Could you get my order? I'll be right back." Adam said and this time it was Joan's turn to nod.

Ashlie the waitress came a moment later with their drinks and Joan ordered their food.

"That place was awesome!" Adam said as they left the restaurant an hour later.

"Yeah. Galleria's one of those places that has great lunches and dinners. You can go there with family, friends, on a date or whatever. It's a great restaurant." Joan replied.

"Do you have to get back to work now?" Adam asked

"Sort of. But, we can hang out for a while instead. I'll just take a long lunch." Joan replied.

"Unchallenged." Adam said.

All of a sudden Joan felt her fingers tingle and looking down, her heart started beating faster.

Adam had reached over for her hand and wrapped his fingers around hers.

Joan looked at him, her heart saying to never let go and her head was saying to shake them out immediately.

She looked up at him and silently begged him to let her fingers go. Adam caught her gaze and looked at her.

"What's wrong?" He asked when he saw her eyes filling up with tears.

"I can't do this."

"What?" Adam asked, concern now obvious in his voice.

"This, you holding my hand. Us, I just can't." Joan replied, rubbing at her eyes with her free hand.

"Why? Do you have a boyfriend or something?" Adam asked and Joan shook her head. "Then what?"

"I don't want to get hurt again, because it still does." Joan said, sniffling.

"Are you talking about junior year and the mock trial?" Adam asked and Joan nodded.

Adam pulled his hand away and said "Do you have any idea how much I still hate myself for doing that? It still hurts inside when I think about it."

"How can I trust you again Adam?" Joan asked, after a long moment of silence.

"You just have to. Jane, you have to know I'll never do that again. I lost so much more then doing what I did was ever worth. Believe me, I'll never hurt you again. I still love you Jane. I never stopped." Adam said.

"I know." Joan replied softly.

"Do you still love me?" Adam asked.

Joan looked up and after a moment said, "Yes."

"Please don't let the past ruin the chance for the future. Our future." Adam said.

"Adam, there can't be an "our future". There just can't be." Joan said, crying slightly again.

"You say that now, but what if we could be us again?"

Joan shook her head, sniffling. "No."

Adam bit down on his lip hard and closed his eyes. "I've got to go."

"Call me when you get back? Joan asked, looking up at him.

"Sure." Adam replied coldly, the hurt obvious in his eyes.

He turned his back to her and walked back towards the subway entrance.

Joan pulled her denim jacket closer around herself suddenly feeling very cold.

She slowly walked back to the subway entrance and headed back to work.

"It must have been a good lunch. It took long enough." Tara loudly said upon seeing Joan from her desk.

Joan didn't reply. Instead she went into her office and closed the door.

Her door was knocked on a minute later.

"Go away Tara."

"Come on, talk to me." Tara replied, opening the door.

"Oh my god. What happened?" Tara asked when she saw Joan's tear stained face.

"I just ruined everything with Adam." Joan replied, trying to blink back tears.

Sensing that Joan needed her, Tara sat down and closed the door.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The temperatures had started to drop into crisp fall likeness and Joan felt just about like the weather did - Cold and nippy.

The coldness went from the top of her head all the way down to her feet, and god was it cold.

She missed Adam so much. She hadn't seen him in a week and besides him calling her 2 days before to let her know he was back in New York, she didn't even know how he was.

How was he? Probably upset, hurt and mad at her and Joan admitted that she didn't blame him. At all.

She gave in at lunchtime and rode down to the gallery to see him.

The gallery full of people and she spotted several "sold" stickers on the artwork.

Glancing towards the wall, she saw "Sewer Walking" was still there and she suddenly felt very guilty for being there.

Joan was just turning to leave when she heard his voice.

"Jane?" Adam asked as he approached her.

Joan smiled weakly at him and moved some of her crimped hair out of her eyes as she replied "Hey."

"What are you doing here?" Adam asked.

"I don't know. I shouldn't have come." Joan said, taking her gloves out of her pocket.

"What? Why not?" Adam asked curiously.

"Last week, I sort of blew up at you. You left all mad and I've gotten one message from you saying "I'm back". You obviously don't want me here, so I'm going to leave." Joan said and she tried to leave again, but Adam put his hand on her shoulder and stopped her.

"I want you to be here." Adam said forcing Joan to look at him.

"Okay Adam, were you not there last week?" Joan asked.

"I was, but I can't stay mad at you Jane." Adam replied.

"Why not?"

"Cha! You know why." Adam replied and Joan smiled at him.

"You look so pretty by the way." Adam said.

Joan glanced down at her outfit - White sweater, Corduroy Jacket, Studded Jeans, a brown belt and her brown boots.

"Thanks." She said, smiling again.

Adam nodded and smiled back.

"Sir, how much is this painting?" A man in his 70's asked, coming up to Adam.

"I'll be right with you sir." Adam said and he looked back at Joan.

Your busy, so I'll go." Joan said.

"Call you later?" Adam asked, sounding hopeful.

"Yeah, sure." Joan replied.

Adam smiled at her and Joan smiled back as she turned and walked out the door.

Joan walked back to the subway entrance, smiling all the way.

She wasn't really paying attention and she made that known when she bumped into someone on the sidewalk.

"I'm so sorry." Joan said.

"It's okay." The short brunette said.

Joan stopped what she was doing and just looked at the woman. She knew that voice and there was no way it was who she thought it was.

The brunette looked up and Joan saw whom it was.

It was Iris, Adam's artist girlfriend from high school.

"Iris?" Joan asked, looking at her.

"Joan?" Iris asked in her soft voice.

"Yeah, it's me. What have you been doing over the past, what 7 years since I've last seen you?" Joan asked.

"A lot. You?" Iris asked as they moved over to a table at the small corner cafe that they were by.

"A lot. Senior year, I seriously brought up my grades and I was able to go to the college I wanted to. I went to NYC and I was an intern at Seventeen magazine. I've actually worked there for the past 2 years as a permanent journalist." Joan replied.

"That's so cool Joan."

"Yeah. What have you been doing?" Joan asked.

"I went to Yale and majored in art. I'm not a professional photographer and I love it." Iris replied and Joan smiled at her.

"I've been dating this guy, Ben for the past 2 years and he's a culinary artist."

"He's a cook, right?" Joan asked wrinkling up her forehead.

"Yeah, but never call him that though or he probably will hurt you. He's a culinary artist." Iris said laughing.

Joan laughed, and then shook her head.

"Have you seen Adam lately?" Iris asked.

"Yes. He's in town right now. He's having an art show called "Silhouette" in the artsy/urban part of town."

"Wow, I'm so happy for him."

"Yeah" Joan said. "Where do you live now?"

"Do you know where 70th street is?" Iris asked.

"Yeah, that's where I live."

"Wow, who would have thought?" Iris said with a shadow of a smile.

"Where on 70th?" Joan asked.

"I live in a townhouse with my friends Caitlyn and Zoe." Iris replied and Joan just starred at her speechlessly.

"What?" Iris asked curiously.

"I'm friends with Caitlyn and Zoe."

"What?" Iris asked again.

"I'm friends with Zoe Tomko and Caitlyn Lowe."

"Wow." Iris slowly said.

"Your the roommate." Joan said looking at her.

"Yeah, I guess I am." Iris replied, looking back at her.

"Ben is Nathan and Aldin's roommate, isn't he?" Joan asked.

Iris nodded. "Yeah, he is."

"And you know the rest of them?" Joan asked and Iris nodded again.

"It really is a small world, isn't it?" Iris said with a half smile.

"Yes it is." Joan replied, smiling at her.

"Your back." Tara said upon seeing her.

"Yeah. I met Iris." Joan said.

"Iris Graffman?"

"Yeah." Joan replied.

"You knew her already, didn't you?"

"Yup. I met her in high school and she dated Adam sophomore year." Joan replied.

"Hey we're going out and doing something tonight, all of us. Why don't you invite Adam?"

"As what? A friend? What?" Joan asked.

Tara shrugged and replied, "That's your call."

Joan rolled her eyes and walked back into her office.

Sitting down, she reached for her phone and the line connected a minute later.

"Hello?"

"Hey." Joan said.

"Oh! Hey Jane." Adam said and upon hearing Joan's voice, the tone raised in his voice.

"You busy tonight?" Joan asked.

"I don't think so."

"Well, now you are."

"What?" Adam asked, that familiar confused sound appearing in his voice.

"All of us going out somewhere and seeing Becca's involved, it'll probably be dancing or something and your coming. Come on Adam! It'll be a chance to hang out with me." Joan replied, running her sentences together.

"Okay yo." Adam said.

"Really?"

"Unchallenged. It's a chance to hang out with you Jane." Adam replied.

"Cool." Joan said, happily biting her lip.

"What am I coming as?" Adam asked a moment later.

"Hmm?" Joan half mumbled.

"Am I coming as your date?"

Joan sighed and replied, "I don't really know Adam."

"Then, I'll just come. Where's everyone meeting?"

"How about you come over to the townhouse around 7?" Joan suggested.  
"Okay Jane." he replied.

"Cool." Joan said.

"You sound like there's something else."

"There is." Joan said. "Guess who I ran into?"

"Cha, I don't know. Who?"

"Iris."

"Iris? High school Iris?" Adam asked.

"Do you know another?"

"No." Adam replied, in a slight mumbled tone.

"Yeah, Iris. I wasn't watching where I was going and I ran straight into her."

"Cool."

"Turns out she's Zoe and Caitlyn's roommate and her boyfriend's Nathan and Aldin's roommate."

"Really?"

"Yeah, small world, huh?"

"Cha, it is." Adam replied.

Joan smiled. "You busy?"

"It's quieter now. I have to leave again in a couple days."

"For how long?"

"A few days. I'll call though." Adam replied. "Sorry Jane, but I've got to go."

"Yeah, so do I."

"I'll see you tonight?" Adam asked.

"Yeah, you will." Joan replied, smiling again.

She said good-bye, and then hung up.

Joan stood up and went into Tara's office.

Tara looked up from her computer and smiled.

"He's coming!" Joan said from the doorway.

"Yay for you!" Tara said beaming at her.

"Yeah." Joan said smiling as she turned around and went back into her office, closing the door behind her.


	4. Chapter 4

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

Chapter 4

"Does this look too 'I like you like you"?" Joan asked.

"Meaning does it look too "hot"?" Becca asked."

"Sure I guess."

"Then, no. It looks perfect." Becca replied eyeing her.

Joan did look great. Her outfit for the night was a sequin-studded black v-necked baby tee shirt, dark faded jeans and black converse sneakers. Her hair was in waves and her lips were shiny with lip-gloss.

"That's hot." Becca said.

"That's so 2005." Joan replied laughing and Becca started to grin.

There was a knock on the doorframe and they both looked up.

Anna and Tara were standing at the doorway and Becca nodded for them to come in.

"When's he coming?" Anna asked.

"7." Joan replied smiling.

Tara glanced at her watch. "It's 6:59."

The doorbell rang a second later.

Tara smiled. "I'll get it. Joan, come down in just a minute."

Joan nodded biting her lip.

Tara went downstairs and opened the front door.

Adam stood at the doorway, looking casual and wearing his red, green and blue beanie cap.

"Tara, hi." Adam said.

"Hi Adam. Come on in."

Adam smiled and walked inside.

"Ready?" Anna asked as Joan and her walked out of Joan's room.

Joan let out a long breath. "Yeah."

Anna nodded and squeezed Joan's hand.

Joan squeezed back and headed down the stairs.

"So." Adam said.

"So." Tara said.

"You look nice by the way." Adam said.

Tara looked down at her black halter and jeans. "Thanks."

Adam smiled, and then froze on what was behind Tara.

Tara turned around and smiled at Joan.

She walked away as Joan approached Adam.

"Hey." Joan said as Adam's eyes met hers.

"Hey." Adam replied, shyly smiling at her.

Joan bit her lip and smiled back.

"You look..." Adam said speechless.

"Great? Amazing? What?"

"Beautiful." Adam replied finishing.

"Thanks." Joan said. "You still have the beanie cap?"  
Adam glanced up at his head. "Yeah. I hadn't worn it for a while and tonight seemed like a good opportunity."  
"It still looks good on you."

Adam's cheeks flushed slightly. "Thanks."

Joan nodded.

"Hey Joan, could you help me with something?" Becca called.

Joan sighed. "I'll be right back."

"Okay." Adam said.

He opened the door and rested his head on the porch railing.

"Hi." Tara said approaching him.

"Hey." Adam said glancing up at her.

"You still love her, don't you?" Tara asked as she came to stand by him.

Adam looked at her. "How'd you know?"

Tara shrugged. "I could just sense it and also she told me that you did."

"She said that?"

"Well, don't you?"

"Yeah. It's just so weird with us right now though." Adam replied.

"Tonight, make it less weird." Tara said.

"What?" Adam asked.

Tara raised her eyebrows and turned back towards the house.

"Hey Adam." A soft female voice said.

Glanced up, Adam saw Iris smiling at him. "Iris, hi."

"Hi." Iris said, as everyone else walked into the house.

"Everyone ready?" Becca asked, pausing to kiss Jason.

"Are you?" Caitlyn asked teasingly.

Becca rolled her eyes, kissing Jason again.

"Party much?" Zoe sarcastically asked, eyeing Becca's outfit of a sequined blue tank, black mini skirt, almost knee length black boots and a studded belt as her hips.

Becca stuck out her tongue.

"Girls, stop it." Matt said chuckling.

"I'm ready. Let's go." Tara said as she smacked Matt.

"If that's what you really want." Chris said smirking slightly at his girlfriend and Tara smiled at him.

All 14 of them then headed down to the subway entrance.

"Shouldn't it be warmerish out?" Adam asked once they out on the sidewalk from the station 20 minutes later.

"Normally, yes. But for some reason it's gotten real cold all of a sudden." Anna replied.

"Damn, there's a line tonight." Becca said as they stopped in front of "Club Midnight".

"Normally is it like, quiet?" Iris asked and Jason nodded.

They got inside 10 minutes later.

"Drinks anyone?" Nathan offered.

"Sure." Joan replied.

"Dance with me?" Tara asked Chris a minute later and Chris reached for her hand, leading her out onto the dance floor.

Joan looked at Adam as her friends started to thin out.

Adam awkwardly smiled at her. "Do you want to dance?"

"Yeah." Joan replied with a smile.

Adam reached for her hand as they walked out to stand between Nathan & Caitlyn and Anna & Matt.

The song playing was a fast song by Kylie Minogue.

The song end a couple minutes later.

"Let's slow the pace down. Here's one that's a Selena classic." The DJ said.

I could lose my heart tonight

If you don't turn and walk away

Because the way I'm feeling

I might lose control and let you stay...

"I could fall in love" flowed out of the speakers and traveled onto the dance floor.

Adam looked down and met down Joan's gaze.

Joan wrapped her arms around Adam's neck as he pulled her closer.

She could tell he was breathing in the smell of her hair. The smell of her skin.

His hands were on her lower back and she could feel his fingers through her shirt.

When the song ended, Joan didn't take her arms from around Adam's neck right away.

She watched him, watching her.

"Okay, now it's request time. Anything you wanna hear?" The DJ asked.

Joan took a deep breath and pulled away from Adam.

"Do you want something to drink?" Adam asked.

"Sure." Joan replied.

"Our first request is from Jason for Becca. Here's the black eyed peas 'Don't Phunk With My Heart'." The DJ said.

"Watch this first." Joan said, stopping Adam from walking over to the bar to order their drinks.

Becca stood in front of Jason and let he wrap his arms around her. Jason spun her, and then Becca ran her hand along his chest and walked in a circle around him. They danced closely for a moment and then Jason spun her around fast a couple times and this all continued until it ended a couple minutes later.

"That was awesome." Adam said as everyone clapped.

"Yeah. If nothing else, they can sure dance well together." Joan said agreeing.

"How long have they been together?"  
"4 years." Joan replied and she looked up and across the room.

Frowning, Joan saw that familiar spiky haired guy.

"I'll be right back."

"Okay." Adam said.

"Hey Joan." The young man said as Joan approached him.

"God dances?" Joan asked raising her eyebrows.

"Yes." Cute Boy God replied, smirking.

Joan rolled her eyes. "What?"

"Are you enjoying your evening?" CBG asked, not answering Joan's question.

Joan glanced over at Adam. "Why tonight?"

"I didn't make tonight happen."

"Then who?"

CBG didn't answer. Instead he glanced past her.

Joan turned around to see Chris and Tara talking to Adam.

"Tara?" Joan asked and God nodded.

"How?"

"You know how."

Joan opened her mouth to ask another question, but then stop when she realized when he meant.

"Earlier, at work. She told me about everyone going out and she asked me to invite Adam. The little sneak, she set me up."

"I have to give her credit. She did a good job." CBG said chuckling.

Joan glared at him, and then just shook her head.

"I'll see you later Joan." CBG said, turning to leave.

"You knew, didn't you?" Joan said and CBG just waved at her.

Joan let out a soft snort and walked back to where Tara was standing.

"You set me up, didn't you?" Joan said.

"What?" Tara asked, a hint of curiosity in her voice.

"Adam and I. Why?"

"Because I could see two people who are obvious all about each other not be together."

"Why?" Joan asked again.

"Because I love you and I care about you and I want you to be happy." Tara replied.

"So you were evil, but you had good intentions?" Joan asked and Tara replied with a nod.

"Okay, then. Your forgiven."

"Thank you." Tara said.

"You know why I did it besides that?"

Joan shrugged. "Sure."

"Cause you're stubborn and you'll never admit that you might be wrong."

"What?"

"Oh come on! Look me in the eye and tell me you don't love Adam." Tara said and Joan rolled her eyes.

"Ah ha! See? You can't!"

"Okay, so maybe I still do." Joan said.

Tara snorted. "Told you so."

Joan rolled her eyes again.

"Now tell me your not having fun." Tara said.

Joan just looked at her.

"See you are. Now was I wrong for doing what I did?"

"Fine. Maybe you were right." Joan replied.

"Thank you." Tara said smugly and Joan laughed.

"I'm going to go request a slow one and you're going to dance with Adam, 'kay?"

"Okay." Joan replied with a nod.

Joan looked around for a moment, and then she spotted Adam.

He was over by the bar talking to Chris.

"Hey." Joan said.

"Hey Jane." Adam said.

"Do you want to dance with me again?"

Adam smiled. "Cha Jane." and Joan gave him a huge smiled.

The 2 of them walked out onto the dance floor.

"Only Hope" by Mandy Moore came on as Adam pulled Joan close to him.

They moved perfectly together.

Joan's breath caught when Adam spun her.

She was still breathing faster when the song ended and as she pulled away from Adam, she could tell that he was breathing faster as well.

"Thank you." Adam mumbled and Joan smiled at him.

Joan glanced at her watch to see that it was after 10.

"What?" Adam asked as she glanced back up.

"It's after 10." Joan replied.

"You wanna get out of here?" Adam asked.

"Sure." Joan replied.

They headed towards the door after grabbing their coats.

"Where you going?" Anna asked.

"Out. It's getting stuffy in here. I'll see you at home later." Joan replied.  
"Okay." Anna said, not completely sure what to say.

"Where did they go?" Tara asked seeing that Joan and Adam had left.

"Out. It got stuffy in here." Anna replied.

"Uh huh." Tara said raising her eyebrows.

"Where do you want to go?" Adam asked.

"Anywhere." Joan replied, smiling at him.

Adam nodded as he reached for her hand and Joan this let him.

And she was in no hurry to let go.


End file.
